theme for a photo portfolio?

[kerstin]

hello everyone,

I really want to do my photography portfolio but I'm not sure what theme to choose. do you have any suggestions? pleeeease you would really help me here.

thank you

[Gee :)]

I have no idea what a photo portfolio is,but I will provide suggestions based on what I like and also,on what my friends did in Art

change

power

femininity or masculinity

emotion

movement

texture

peace

violence

[Wide Eyed Wanderer]

For summer, my art teacher asked me to take 1000 good pictures, but didn't give a theme. Since I was very new to photography, I started with the theme 'People Doing What People Do' for which I just went out on the street and took pictures of random people - rikshaw pullers, street food vendors, beggars, ladies with LV bags travelling on rikshaws, street kids, all of that. Later, I branched into still life and children/babies( because I was lucky enough to be called for 2 baby photo shoots), and an indian wedding since my first cousin got married in summer, so I covered that whole event.

So I recommend picking a general theme that you can think of lots of things for: babies, women, food, architecture, animals, still life. I recommend not going very far from home. Pick a theme that no other person could pick, simply because they don't live where you live and do the combination of things you do. If you're say, a professional dancer, you may want to capture the 'backstage' moments during a show - someone zipping up his costume, the reflection of a lady as she applies make up, a child with hands pressed together, praying, a couple practising a crucial lift, someone's expression right before she walks onto the stage. Try capturing major events and festivals and traditions that your family/town/country follows. I picked the people theme because no one living in a developed country would have been able to capture this:

http://crash-into-sunshine.tumblr.com/page/9#6464870275

So, keep it personal.

You may also want to construct frames and pay a model for a few hours. In the portfolio, try to experiment on the technical side, avoid auto mode. Fiddle with the manual settings, like taking the same picture with different exposures ( and later combining them to make HDR images), high speed photography ( google it - not just a high shutter speed), varying aperture, shutter speed, focus and white balance.

With Christmas just around the corner, there's a lot of opportunity to try bokeh as well, so include that!

Don't forget to have fun!